Chris Coleman says he ‘can’t get his head around’ players who hesitate when offered the chance to play football, after revealing that Sunderland have walked away from talks with Derby County’s Chris Martin.

The Black Cats agreed a loan deal with the Rams for Martin and the player travelled to the North-East 10 days ago and seemed keen to sign, only to then ask for 48 hours to make up his mind, and then another 48 hours as he travelled with Derby to Dubai for warm weather training.

At that point, Sunderland pulled the plug with Coleman determined to stick to his philosophy of only signing players who show that they want to play for the club.

Coleman did not name Martin, but he is known to be the player that was still making his mind up when Sunderland beat Hull City 10 days ago.

Coleman said: “We were a bit disappointed in the end with the outcome of that.

“We were told that someone wanted 48 hours, which turned into another 48 hours, and that was it – we just came away from that.

“It’s the opposite of the type of player we are trying to attract in terms of mentality, so that completely fell flat.

“We don’t want to make the same mistakes.

“If players are not playing at their clubs, would they rather come here and play at a club like this and be a part of something, or do you stay where you are and keep on not playing?

“I can’t get my head around that, personally.

poll loading

Should Sunderland sign Chris Martin on loan?

1000+ VOTES SO FAR

“You want to play football. If you’re not playing at your club, you want to play somewhere otherwise you are training Monday to Friday and you have nothing to show for it at the weekend.

“I’ll never ever understand that. It was all about playing football for me.”

Sunderland have in previous seasons made the mistake of signing players who had to be persuaded to join the club, and Coleman will not allow that to continue under his reign.

Instead he points to the willingness of Chelsea youngster Jake Clarke-Salter to move to Wearside on loan to further his career, and of Kazenga LuaLua who joined from Brighton last week on a short-term deal in a bid to prove himself.